The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a self test initialization for an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs use a system to speed up early basic input/output system (BIOS) power-on self test (POST) and provide a data stack for BIOS code prior to main memory initialization. This system is referred to as cache as RAM (CAR). BIOS, POST, and RAM (random access memory) are all commonly used in the IHS industry and should be readily understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art. CAR makes use of the processor's cache memory as a temporary RAM.
In common usages CAR is used to provide a temporary RAM data area used to setup a call stack, data segment and to cache the early BIOS code being executed. All of this occurs prior to memory initialization. After memory initialization, system memory is used to provide all of these RAM data areas and BIOS POST code will be executed using the system main memory. A problem with this system is that BIOS POST on IHSs and especially server IHSs is time consuming and takes several minutes or more to complete depending upon total memory population in the system. The more memory an IHS has the longer it takes to initialize the memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) array thus, resulting in increased boot times.
In an IHS manufacturing facility, where all systems are run through a self test process called Quick Test (QT). A lengthy POST time to complete a self test is inefficient. It not only slows down production time and total throughput, but also incurs additional labor costs to operate the self testing equipment. With large volumes of IHSs requiring self tests, these combined inefficiencies are very costly. Additionally, these long BIOS POST execution times that increase in proportion to the amount of installed memory are totally unnecessary for QT.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a self test initialization process absent the disadvantages discussed above.